In Soffer v. George Washington University, (D DC, July 31, 2026), a D.C. federal district court dismissed without prejudice on procedural grounds a complaint filed by two former George Wasington University students and a student organization. The complaint alleges pervasive and severe antisemitic harassment of students at the university and failure of the university to respond to antisemitic discrimination. The court concluded that the complaint violates Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8(a) which requires the complaint to contain a short and plain statement of plaintiff's claim. The court, however, said that plaintiffs may file an amended complaint that complies with pleading rules. The court said in part:
The Complaint before the Court describes a multi-year pattern of unaddressed antisemitism at GWU that came to a head with the Hamas terrorist attacks in October 2023 and worsened in following months....
A complaint may offend Rule 8 in more ways than one. “[E]xcessively long” and “rambling” complaints that are “full of irrelevant and confusing material” violate its requirements....
... Plaintiff’s Complaint flouts these requirements. Recall that Plaintiffs’ allegations span nearly two hundred pages and over one thousand paragraphs.... And much of its length stems from excessive narrative....
The Court recognizes the serious nature of allegations at issue. It emphasizes that it dismisses only the Complaint without prejudice rather than dismissing the lawsuit. The difference renders the Court’s order non-appealable. .. The Court accordingly grants Plaintiffs leave to file an amended complaint within 30 days of this Order....
JNS reports on the decision.
